Cube HX: Delivering Ground-Breaking Customer Insights from Physiological Data Points

Founded in early 2018, in Montreal, Quebec, Cube was conceived as an offshoot of the Tech3 Lab at HEC Montreal. The Tech3 Lab was founded in 2014, by Pierre-Majorique Leger, Sylvain Senecal, Marc Fredette, and Francois Courtemanche, as a global leader in the understanding of computer-human interaction. Cube was then created to be the vehicle that could commercialize the technologies developed at the Tech3 Lab. Since its founding, the company has specialized in combining multiple physiological measures to develop a deeper understanding of the human reaction, in both the user experience and advertising worlds. The company's patent is based on understanding how various physiological measures, such as facial recognition, galvanic skin response, eye-tracking and pupil dilation, react together, to generate industry-leading insights.

Cube's mission is to push the technological limits of non-conscious understanding. "There are many unimodal providers that deliver flat data that just scratches the surface of how much we can understand from a given moment," says CEO Neil Fleischer. "At Cube, we know that asking a user a question and getting a verbal response is not how we create great journeys, nor is using unimodal data. Combining measures brings a dynamic and rich depth of understanding of the human journey and interaction that is market-leading."

Enhancing Global Reach Via Data-Driven Approach

Officially recording revenues in early 2019, Cube's customer list includes: two of the big four global consulting firms, international airlines, financial institutions, members of the automobile industry as well as, some of the leading creative agencies in the world. What the company loves about its client group, is that it shows how data-driven consulting firms, as well as, creative agencies, find tremendous value in its insights. Cube has a global presence for its software sales via a relationship with Noldus Information Technology of the Netherlands. While Cube has focused on creating relationships with its clients through consulting engagements, it also sells its software as a SAAS solution. Partnering with Noldus, a global leader in the field, allows Cube to achieve a global reach.

Leadership that adds to the success of the product

Cube was founded by Neil Fleischer as well as the Tech3 Lab directors Pierre-Majorique Leger, Francois Courtemanche, Sylvain Senecal, and Marc Fredette. While completing his MBA at HEC Montreal, Fleischer enrolled in a digital marketing course taught by Sylvain Senecal and about a year after graduating, the latter reached out to him about the opportunity to start Cube. Fleischer was so impressed with the technology that he decided to buy up the first round of investment, which was going to be offered through an angel round. What is great about the company's founding team, is that they all have their fields in which they excel in. Fleischer's research partners are constantly coming out with new avenues to follow to ensure the innovations at the Tech3 Lab remain at the cutting edge of the field, and he ensures that his business grows. It is truly a great team.

Hotbed of Game-Changing Innovations

"Driving our past and future innovations is a unique relationship with one of the academic leading labs in UX research," says Fleischer. The Tech3 Lab has some of the most innovative thinkers in the field. As well, Montreal has become such a hotbed for software and web development, gaming and creative thinking (conferences such as C2) that Cube is in a unique position to both benefit from its current landscape and equally add to it as well.

Recently, Cube and the Tech3 Lab were granted their first patents. The patent is a method of visualizing a combination of a user's affective, cognitive and eye-tracking data on physiological heatmaps (UX heatmaps). It provides immediate, deep insight into what the user is experiencing in front of an interface, (such as a website, mobile app or display panel) and advertisements. The results of the analysis can easily be interpreted by managers or interface designers. According to Fleischer, innovation is an amazing thing. Cube's emotional heatmaps give a level of data never seen before. Consumer decisions are based on non-conscious responses, creating a heatmap that shows where those responses are a game-changer.

2020 and Beyond: The Future of Data and Insights

Neil Fleischer believes that the company is just passing the "early adopters" phase in its field. For years, large companies such as Amazon, Airbnb and others have been spending millions to understand and optimize their customer's non-conscious reactions. Now, as technologies like Cube's come to market, he believes the company will start to see mass-market acceptance. With a more cost-sensitive delivery model and perhaps more importantly richer data that is easily interpreted by everyone from the C-level, and all the way down through the organization, it is now within reach for everyone to benefit from the ability to understand and optimize their consumer non-conscious reactions.

Fleischer sees 2020 and beyond as being all about data and gaining those extra insights that can drive great customer experience and make an impact. Cube's customers face significant competition, be it their clients in sectors of retail, automotive, financial, etc. everyone who comes to the company has a competitor whom they worry about. "Ensuring their company through its products, retail environments (online and offline) and their advertising makes a positive impact on their customer's non-conscious mind which is a necessity that pays both short and long-term dividends. We believe that Cube, is a market-leader in getting those insights," says Fleischer.